If you want to have an excellent time at the movies this summer, take a couple of brilliant eighth-grade girls to see the newest "Godzilla" in 3D like I just did. Their 2 cents? Utterly priceless: The female characters were weak, the subplots and 3D were essentially useless, but Godzilla — the movie and the monster — "totally boss." As we trailed out of the theater deep in discussion, they reminded me of the pure joy of sharing a good film with simpaticos.

Yes, summer films often are rife with ridiculous explosions, flat characters, unnecessary subplots and scantily clad women with little agency, but every once in a while a film comes along that's different. Maybe the explosions hit you on an emotional level, the flat characters are flattened. Sometimes, you get a "Godzilla."

Below you'll find all the summer movies fit to print — well, at least all the ones that aren't so far down on the "Limited Release List" that you'll have to drive to a coast to watch them.

If last year was the summer of zombies, this is the summer of sci-fi, heralding a new, original space opera ("Jupiter Ascending") from "Matrix" creators Andy and Lana Wachowski, family-friendly flick "Earth to Echo" and "Edge of Tomorrow," wherein Tom Cruise is stuck in a time loop.

Should you hate summer films because they're just too loud, stunning and explode-y, then your salvation might lie in the quiet Irish drama, "Calvary" (starring Brendan Gleeson), "The Hundred-Foot Journey," (starring Helen Mirren), or either of the two weeper flicks, "The Fault In Our Stars," or "If I Stay."

Since you might not have a brilliant eighth-grader to hit the movies with, I asked Sali to weigh in on a few of the films here. All release dates are subject to change, and here's to a happy summer, in and out of the movies!

MAY

May 31

Blended

PG-13 | Comedy

The last time I watched a rom-com starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, I got in a huge fight with my boyfriend. I was mad he wasn't inventive enough in our relationship and he was irate I made him go see "50 First Dates." But that won't happen after watching this new Sandler-Barrymore rom-com (about single parents hooking up during a family vacation to Africa, Brady Bunch-style) because we are seeing other people.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

PG-13 | Action

Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent into the past to affect crucial historical tweaks to save both mutants and humans who're threatened by a robot army controlled by Peter Dinklage! (Insert girlish squeal here.) James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart play Dr. Xavier, Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender are Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence plays Mystique, Halle Berry is Storm, Anna Paquin is Rogue, Ellen Page is Kitty Pryde, Nicholas Hoult plays the younger version of Beast, Shawn Ashmore plays Iceman, Omar Sy is Bishop, Evan Peters is Quicksilver, Daniel Cudmore is Colossus, Bingbing Fan is Blink, Mr. Peter Dinklage is Dr. Bolivar Trask, and if none of this means anything to you, that's too bad because director Bryan Singer's latest X-Men film is going to be one of his best.

Seth MacFarlane aims his blissfully juvenile, pop culture savant sense of humor at the old west in a story centered on the burgeoning romance between an affably dorky farmer (MacFarlane) and the no-nonsense, gunslinging New Girl in Town (Charlize Theron) as they face a murderous thug (Liam Neeson) who happens to be her husband. On the off-chance you're too busy reading books to have watched MacFarlane's "Family Guy," expect rapid-fire bawdiness and gallows humor.

Maleficent

PG | Family

Angelina Jolie stars in Disney's "Wicked"-style reimagining of the evil, horn-headed antagonist from the Sleeping Beauty tale as a once-kind fairy turned vengeful monster after a series of major letdowns. (Good for her; I get salty over something as simple as bad coffee.) Sali likes that it doesn't seem "too violent for younger viewers but has enough action for older audiences."

JUNE

June 6

Edge of Tomorrow

PG-13 | Sci-fi

Remember in "Groundhog Day" how Bill Murray repeats the same day over and over, eventually using the time to learn 16th century French poetry and classical piano? This flick is totally samesies, except swap Tom Cruise for Murray and alien warfare skills for French poetry/classical piano. Despite its delayed release, the film could be something of a dark horse, quality-wise: Doug Liman directs (he did the original and arguably best "Bourne" film).

The Fault in Our Stars

PG-13 | Drama

Hazel (Shailene Woodley) is a teen with cancer requiring an ever-present oxygen tank. She meets cancer-surviving, prosthetic leg-havin' Augustus (Ansel Elgort) during an otherwise lame group therapy session. They fall madly in love and then disaster strikes. Directed by Josh Boone, who did 2012's "Stuck in Love" and is making Stephen King's "Lisey's Story" next year. Should you go see this one, I recommend a full-size box of Kleenex, not one of those little purse packs.

Obvious Child

R | Comedy

Jewish stand-up comedian Donna (Jenny Slate) was "recently dumped up with" after her best friend slept with Donna's boyfriend. Donna now "would just like to murder-suicide them." She then gets knocked up during a drunken date with a goy toy (Jake Lacy). Still, the gentile seems to be a real mensch. Some folks won't like the low-brow comedy of director/co-writer Gillian Robespierre, but that's OK because then they won't sit by me in the theater, talking and rustling their candy wrappers.

June 13

22 Jump Street

NR | Comedy

Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill return as undercover officers Schmidt and Jenko. This time they go to college. No, I'm not going to say it.

How to Train Your Dragon 2

PG | Family

Fine: Your mom goes to college. Anyway. I didn't see the first dragon training film (I heard it was of no use to Daenerys Targaryen), but there are more than a few elementary school girls who dressed as Astrid last Halloween who'll be disappointed this installment mainly leaves Astrid at the dragon races while Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his dragon, Toothless, roam the skies looking for adventure.

The crew heads to Vegas for a wedding, kicking off another battle of the sexes, but with less clothing this time. (Vegas is quite warm in the summer.) Stars Kevin Hart, Gabrielle Union, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Michael Ealy, Meagan Good, Regina Hall, Taraji P. Henson, Romany Malco and other talented actors who deserve better than a lame Steve Harvey script.

June 27

Transformers: Age of Extinction

PG-13 | Action

Mark Wahlberg finds a hoopty-ass semi that turns out to be Optimus Prime. But Stanley Tucci tells everyone Transformers suck and we don't need them anymore, so they leave, and then — predictably — we're invaded by robot dragon monsters. "I don't have high hopes ... it's directed by Michael Bay," said Sali. "Might have a few cool action scenes; we'll just have to wait and see." Fair enough.

JULY

July 2

Deliver Us From Evil

NR | Thriller

Eric Bana plays NYPD cop Ralph Sarchie, who doesn't believe in supernatural evil until his daughter's sock monkey and owl toy show him a terrifying ghost/demon thingy. Even though it's hiding under his kid's bed and not his own, Ralph's quick to team up with an exorcist (Edgar Ramirez). Because this is supposed to be based on a true story, I recommend ignoring any direction you might receive from sock monkeys and/or owl toys.

Earth to Echo

PG | Sci-fi

A bunch of kids ride their bikes 20 miles into the desert after their phones show them a map to an alien resembling a robot owl. Tangent: What's with all the owls this season? Why don't you put an old-timey mustache on his face and some bacon in his talons already, you Hollywood joiners?! Ahem. The robot owl is friendly and wants to go back to his home planet, but guess what? The evil scientists who didn't learn their lesson from "E.T." put a big ol' hitch in that giddyup.

Tammy

R | Comedy

Melissa McCarthy co-wrote this flick with director Ben Falcone, who also happens to be her husband. McCarthy plays the title character, a woman who loses her job, her husband and her mind (presumably in that order), then robs a fast-food joint and hits the road with her drunken gramma (Susan Sarandon.) Also stars Dan Akroyd.

July 11

And So It Goes

PG-13 | Rom-com

Orin Little (Michael Douglas) is a lying, rude, navel-gazin' real estate agent who's entrusted with the care of his granddaughter (Sterling Jerins) after his estranged son drops her off with him. (Really questioning your judgment here, Estranged Son.) Then Orin hits on the next-door neighbor (Diane Keaton). As silly, contrived and distasteful as this setup is, it's also a rom-com, so Keaton will go for it, the kid will teach Orin to be nice, and — just a second; I need to find something to hurl into.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

NR | Action

After a virus wipes out most of humanity and genetically enhanced apes grow in number, a tentative truce is threatened. Caesar the Ape (Andy Serkis) says, "I can't trust the humans," but Malcolm the Human (Jason Clarke) is like, "No, we'll be cool. It's cool." Then Dreyfus the Human (Gary Oldman) is all, "No, the apes gotta go," and Ellie (Keri Russell) says, "But this baby monkey is adorable!" Then they fight anyway.

The Fluffy Movie

NR | Documentary

This documentary about popular stand-up comic Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias appears to be no more than a series of performances edited together. Sali, however is looking forward to it because "it looks like a funny movie about a funny fat guy."

July 18

Jupiter Ascending

NR | Sci-fi

Lowly janitor Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) discovers extraterrestrials exist, they're more evolved than us, some of them own planets, she's the rightful heir to Earth and an alien businessman (Eddie Redmayne) and the Queen of the Universe want her dead. Kind of a big day. Thankfully, the alien bounty hunter (Channing Tatum) sent to kill her changes his mind. This flick is hotly anticipated, as it marks a return to original sci-fi screenplays by Matrix franchise creators Andy and Lana Wachowski and is slated as the first in a trilogy (insert "Uranus Ascending" joke here).

Planes: Fire & Rescue

NR | Family

I know little kids get obsessed with trucks and planes and tractors, and it makes financial sense for Disney to make a film with all those things in it. Still, it's kind of weird to have it focus on something as dangerous and devastating as wildfires and then release it right in the middle of summer.

The Purge: Anarchy

R | Thriller

This is a sequel to last year's horror flick about an annual night set aside so citizens can give into murderous impulses, free of legal repercussions. Although the night mostly serves as a Get Out of Jail Free card for sociopaths, some use the evening for revenge, while others curse their luck after their car breaks down. Stars Frank Grillo, Michael K. Williams and Kiele Sanchez.

July 25

Hercules

NR | Action

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson plays Hercules (a "totally boss guy who kills stuff," according to Sali), who's already bested his 12 labors when we meet him in Brett Ratner's film, based on the graphic novel by Steve Moore and Cris Bolsin, "The Thracian Wars." Now busy leading a group of mercenaries, Herc's gotta whip his posse into shape and save the King of Thrace (John Hurt).

Sex Tape

NR | Comedy

Married couple Annie (Cameron Diaz) and Jay (Jason Segel) have hit a sexy-time lull — one of those it's been so long, I don't know how long it's been lulls that none of us has any experience with. They set aside a Thursday night, deciding that taping it will make the experience extra kinky, and wake up the next morning to discover their video's gone missing. Cue panic. While the premise is solid and the cast (which includes Rob Corddry, Jack Black and Rob Lowe) has comedic chops, the trailer features a German shepherd flying off a treadmill, making me wonder if a promising setup got undermined by pedestrian humor.

Step Up: All In

PG-13 | Drama

Attention dance nerds! The fifth — fifth! — installment of the Step Up franchise is here. This time, a mix of wickedly talented kids ranging from "plucky" to "troubled" join together to win a dance competition. Don't go thinking this is exactly like the other four films; this one is in Vegas.

AUGUST

Aug. 1

Calvary

NR | Comedy

Father James Lavelle (Brendan Gleeson) is a unilaterally respected priest in a small Irish town, which is why the death threat he receives during confession one Sunday is such a shock. As the week progresses, the townspeople's super-egos dissolve, leaving Father Lavelle to wonder who's going to take him out. Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, the film stars Chris "Moone Boy" O'Dowd, Kelly "Black Box" Reilly, Aiden "Littlefinger" Gillen, Dylan "Black Books" Moran and lots of other fine Irish actors. Slainte!

Get on Up

NR | Biography

Did you Step Up? Good. Now it's time to, Get on Up. Director Tate Taylor takes on the tumultuous rise to fame of the hardest-working man in show business, Mr. Dynamite, the amazing Mr. Please Please himself, the star of the show, James Brown from poverty to the Apollo Theater. Chadwick Boseman ("42") appears to have the pained expressions and pigeon-toed walk down; let's hope he also brings the electric energy, or it'll be time for the big payback.

Guardians of the Galaxy

NR | Adventure

This. Looks. Terrible. I love Chris Pratt, who plays Peter "Star-Lord" Quill, leader of a ragtag team of pseudo antiheroes who save the galaxy, but when I learned one of them is a raccoon and saw John C. Reilly being John C. Reilly in a very silly outerspace costume, I lost interest. Maybe you haven't, and if not, you should know Star-Lord steals some kind of orb and gets the team in trouble with an evil alien. (Tangent: How freakin' cool is the name "Ronan the Accuser"?) Director James Gunn won the 2006 Chainsaw Award for Highest Body Count for "Slither," which could be considered a plus in some circles, but then went on to win a Worst Director Award at this year's Razzies for "Movie 43." He shared it with 12 other directors; let's hope he's not earning one just for himself this time.

Aug. 8

The Hundred-Foot Journey

NR | Drama

Lasse Hallstrom ("Cider House Rules," "Chocolat") directs this film based on Richard C. Morais' novel about an elegant, yet entrenched French woman (Helen Mirren) running a Michelin-starred restaurant across the street from a new Indian eatery. Tensions are high between Mademe Mallory and her new neighbors (played by Om Puri, Manish Dayal, Farzana Dua Elahe, Amit Shah, Juhi Chawla) but once the son (a burgeoning chef in his own right) begins sharing techniques and recipes with her, both neighborly love and omelets improve.

Into the Storm

PG-13 | Action

I love it when studios make the same flavor of onscreen hell in the same year — two enter; one leaves. Last year, we had two White House Under Attack flicks ("Olympus Has Fallen" and "White House Down") and next year, we might get a pair of Everest-themed movies. In 1996, we got both "Tornado!" and "Twister" (plus "Night of the Twisters" on TV). It's kind of weird and sad then, to see this disaster film all by its lonesome. In "Into the Storm," papers, people and planes get sucked up, er, into the storm. Guess I'll watch "Storm of the Century" again.

Lucy

NR | Action

Scarlett Johansson is Lucy, kidnapped during a wild night of clubbing only to discover contraband in her belly the next morning. Hint: It's not curdling White Russians. Instead, it's a package of blue, brain-enhancing goo she's supposed to smuggle into the States. Like my cop buddy always says, "Most criminals are pretty dumb," and these guys are no exception. After Lucy is kicked in the belly, the package explodes, leaking the goo into her system and creating a super-smart lady able to control time and space. (So, like half the women in Boulder County.) Morgan Freeman is the friendly professor who helps her.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

NR | Action

Fans of the franchise complained about a now-reversed decision to cut both "Teenage" and "Mutant" out of the title and turn them into aliens who come to the aid of crime-ridden New York, but Sali nailed it when I asked her opinion: "Michael Bay's producing. There're going to be too many camera flares, jump cuts, boobs and hot women." Kid really dislikes Michael Bay.

Aug. 13

Let's Be Cops

R | Action

Two delightful dummies (Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr.) decide against lame sheet/ghost costumes in favor of police uniforms. The second they realize everyone thinks they're the real deal, they let the gag take its natural course. "Too far?" you ask. Yes. But here "too far" might be "just right."

Sci-fi this summer is like Hansel — it's so hot right now! Lois Lowry's bestselling, Newbery Medal-winning novel about a perfectly controlled, pain-avoiding dystopian society is brought to the screen by director Phillip Noyce. Brenton Thwaites plays Jonas, the teen chosen to receive knowledge of the true, suffering nature of the world from The Giver, whom you might know as The Dude (Jeff Bridges). Also stars Meryl Streep.

Life After Beth

R | Zom-rom-com

Did you see "Warm Bodies," the movie where the zombie falls in love with a normal? This is sort of a reverse of that premise, a flippy-floppy if you will. Zach (a promising Dane DeHaan) is pretty broken up when his special lady friend, Beth (Aubrey Plaza), keels over. When she climbs out of the grave with zero cognizance of her death, he wonders if this is less of a second chance and more a zombie situation. John C. Reilly might redeem himself after that nasty "Guardians" business, as her defensive, zombie-enabling father.

Aug. 22

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

NR | Action

The original "Sin City" cast is back: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba and Jaime King. And they're joining a few new faces — Jeremy Piven, Ray Liotta, Josh Brolin — in a story about a dame supposedly worth killing for: Eva Green. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez direct. Let's hope this is every bit as pulptastic and visually brilliant as the previous one.

If I Stay

NR | Drama

What begins as a straightforward, coming-of-age tale about a promising young cellist (Chloe Grace Moretz) distracted by an upcoming audition and a new fabulous boyfriend (Jamie Blackley) is soon hijacked after a car accident leaves her an orphan in a coma. Also stars Mireille Enos, Liana Liberato. Based on the novel by Gayle Forman and directed by R. J. Cutler. Maybe we should buy our Sad Movie Kleenex at Costco.

When the Game Stands Tall

PG | Drama

The De La Salle High School football team, with 151 consecutive wins, holds the longest winning streak of any sports team in the whole entire history of the world! Er, the American world, at least. When that streak ended, coach Bob Ladouceur (played by Jim Caviezel), his players, the students and the town of Concord, Calif., had some soul searching to do. Sali's take: "It looks like a movie that teaches people to not get caught up in things." Also stars Alexander Ludwig, Michael Chiklis and Laura Dern.

Aug. 29

Jessabelle

PG-13 | Horror

After a car accident kills her boyfriend and leaves her in a wheelchair, Jessabelle (Sarah Snook) is forced to move back to Louisiana and in with her dad (David Andrews). No, that's not the scary part. There, she discovers VHS tapes of her deceased mother (Joelle Carter) reading Tarot cards. No, that's not it, either, but the VHS tapes lead her to the following revelations: She's been cursed since birth; voodoo is not her favorite; baby skulls are in that swamp over there; blood sometimes burbles up in the sink and tub; no, seriously, this voodoo stuff is not her jam, and the mirrors in the house are more than a little problematic.

In "Lucy," Scarlett Johansson is kidnapped while clubbing and makes a startling discovery the next morning. (Courtesy photo)

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